As it is generally known, in the modern, automated work environment, workers are expected to perform an increasingly large number of tasks with a high level of efficiency. At the same time, workers are also being made available for frequent communication with their co-workers, collaborators, and/or customers. A wide array of applications assist workers in accomplishing the tasks that are assigned to them. These technologies enable each worker to be simultaneously responsible for a large number of different tasks, each one of which may require a different set of applications and/or other resources. While the availability of easy to use communication tools keeps workers continuously connected, available, and well informed at all times, it also has the consequence of making workers face an increasing number of interruptions.
The increasing number of tasks assigned to each worker, and the increasing use of communication tools, make it difficult for workers to effectively manage their work schedule. In particular, each worker has only a limited amount of high focus time each day, during which they have a high level of engagement with a current task. Usually, large strategic tasks don't get the attention they deserve because workers get interrupted by urgent but less strategic tasks. Management of such high focus time periods is critically important, since they are typically the worker's most productive times. A worker's high focus time is highly valuable, and should be carefully managed in terms of its appropriate allocation, protection, and maximization.